Craft Artists

Median salary

$46,080

Average salary

$49,740

Employment

4,580

Projected growth

2.1% growth

Annual openings

1,000

Typical entry education

No formal educational credential

What Craft Artists Do

Create or reproduce handmade objects for sale and exhibition using a variety of techniques, such as welding, weaving, pottery, and needlecraft.

See full salary breakdown & percentiles →

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 2024–2034.

Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Long-term on-the-job training
Self-employed: 62.6%

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

How Much Preparation Does This Take?

Job Zone 3 of 5

Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed

Experience: Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations.
Education: Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Job training: Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Source: O*NET Job Zones.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

Designimportance 3.9/5
Fine Artsimportance 3.7/5
Sales and Marketingimportance 3.6/5
English Languageimportance 3.3/5
Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 3.3/5
Production and Processingimportance 3.2/5
Communications and Mediaimportance 2.8/5
Mechanicalimportance 2.8/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals4.6/5
Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls4.5/5
E-Mail4.4/5
Freedom to Make Decisions4.4/5
Indoors, Environmentally Controlled3.8/5
Importance of Being Exact or Accurate3.8/5

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers84% skill match
Barbers83% skill match
Cooks, Private Household82% skill match
Nurse Anesthetists81% skill match
Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators80% skill match
First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers79% skill match
Insurance Appraisers, Auto Damage79% skill match
First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers79% skill match

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

Social Perceptivenessimportance 2.9/5
Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 2.9/5
Persuasionimportance 2.8/5
Service Orientationimportance 2.8/5
Complex Problem Solvingimportance 2.8/5
Operations Analysisimportance 2.6/5
Coordinationimportance 2.5/5
Quality Control Analysisimportance 2.5/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Hot Technologies

Facebook

Other Software Used

DRAWSTITCH Artistic Sewing Suite
Electric Quilt Quilt Design Wizard
Email software
Embroidery design software
Floriani MDQ My Decorative Quilter
John Hesselberth and Ron Roy GlazeMaster
Pattern design software
Sales management software

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

Innovation
Attention to Detail
Initiative
Perseverance
Achievement Orientation
Adaptability
Tolerance for Ambiguity

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

ArtisticHigh
RealisticHigh
EnterprisingLow
ConventionalLow
InvestigativeLow
SocialLow

This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

Metro areas where craft artists make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).

1Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA3.61× national avg
2Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI3.32× national avg
3Cleveland, OH1.52× national avg
4Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL1.48× national avg
5Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD0.73× national avg

Possible Career Moves

A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.

Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and IllustratorsLateral Move
First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction WorkersCareer Change
First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating WorkersCareer Change
Chefs and Head CooksCareer Change

See the full career path from Craft Artists →

Related Education Programs

Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.